New Perspectives in Service Research

Scholars and managers alike view service-based strategies as an effective instrument in establishing and sustaining competitive advantage. Particularly, in product-driven firms service-based strategies are associated with a variety of benefits such as increased differentiation of a firm's market offerings and generation of additional revenues as well as profits. However, service-based strategies do not lead to increased company performance per se. Instead, many firms find it difficult to reap the fruits of the service business and successfully exploit its full financial potential. Based on the concept of strategic fit, Christoph Thiesbrummel examines whether and under which conditions service-based strategies, such as service innovation, promote superior performance. The focus of the investigation is on product-driven firms, whose core market offering typically is a physical good. The author employs different methodologies (e.g., configuration analysis) in order to examine the financial outcomes of service-based strategies. The dissertation encompasses five research projects, four empirical studies and one conceptual study, which collectively show that the success of service-based strategies is contingent on contextual factors. Firms thus need to orchestra various company and market characteristics for turning service-based strategies into superior company performance.